David Dalglish - Wrath of Lions

“That was why I suggested the formation of the lordship.” He inclined his head toward the king. “It was not wholly noble, I must say. A few of us wished to embarrass Ashhur, to show him that his children were frail and undeserving. It shames me to say that I was one of them. One of my confidants stated privately that we should instruct them halfheartedly, that we should allow those chosen to fail. Yet I am a flawed creature. I am too proud, too headstrong, not to give all I do my greatest effort. So when I became young Geris Felhorn’s mentor, I pushed him toward success, and slowly my desire to see humans fail fell by the wayside.

“Still, old emotions die hard, and after my student lost his sanity, I fell back into resentment. It did not help that one of the few humans I had looked on as my equal, Jacob Eveningstar, was the grand purveyor of a nefarious scheme to overthrow our beloved deity. Suddenly I was placed in the position of taking these innocent children I had privately begrudged and trying to help them save themselves. Only this time I saw myself as a disappointment, not those under my wing. Their failures were my failures, for it was my leadership, my pride, my patience that were lacking. Once more, it was Geris who saved me.” He swallowed deeply, wondering whether he should reveal his actions. Finally, he went on. “I have been visiting the broken boy in the well, and he forgives me . He loves me. He lifted the veil from my eyes, and now, for the first time ever, I see things clearly.”

“What do you see?” asked King Benjamin.

“I see innocence. I have lived a long time, my Liege. And yet…yet I had never seen the true face of virtue in a mortal creature.” He swept his arms wide. “It is reflected in the joyous expressions worn by each man, woman, and child in Paradise. Their futures are not preordained, as I always felt mine was. They live their short lives for the moment; they love, they laugh, they comfort.…They could have been molded any way the gods chose, and Ashhur chose innocence. That was the folly of my ways.…It took me this long to understand what our Grace was trying to accomplish. He wanted to give birth to an ideal . Since the day of my awakening, I have become the teacher and mentor humanity has deserved all along. So to answer your question, my lady…yes, I have come to love my wards, and that love is very sincere.”

“Would you die for them?” she asked.

“Without hesitation,” he replied, and it did not surprise him that he truly meant it. “If any were to lash out at Ashhur’s children, I would strike them down or perish trying. And when Karak arrives on our doorstep, he will discover just how much I mean those words.”

“You will not have long to wait,” said Isabel.

Ahaesarus tilted his head forward. “What do you mean?”

The fire-haired lady lifted a sheet of parchment from the table behind her. “My daughter sent word from Drake,” she said. “Enemy forces have been attempting to cross the Gihon for some time now. Turock and his casters have held them back, and the villagers have as well, but the enemy is numerous and we are few. It is Abigail’s fear that Karak’s soldiers will overwhelm her husband’s defenses. Should that occur, the forces of our enemy will arrive south before the wall is complete.”

“I understand, my lady,” Ahaesarus said softly.

King Benjamin stood up. The folds in his neck flapped ever so slightly when he spoke. “You are to take a company of fifty of your fellow Wardens to help defend the line.”

“I will do as you command, my Liege,” replied Ahaesarus. “But may I ask why?”

“You have been visiting with Geris Felhorn,” the boy king said. “You have broken my direct decree that my competitor for the throne of Paradise, who tried to slit my throat, be left in isolation until Ashhur’s arrival. You have proven that you cannot be trusted.”

The young king turned, grinning, and mouthed to Isabel, “Was that okay?” The matriarch nodded, patted his cheek lovingly, and guided him back to his seat. The lady of the house then said, “Consider this another lesson, Master Warden. You are not the only Warden who can oversee the raising of our wall. Judarius will do just as well. And when you return, you will remember your place. Am I understood?”

Ahaesarus thought on what he’d just told them and swallowed his pride. “I understand,” he said. Though I do not like it. Thinking on the duty he had just been given, Potrel, Limmen, Martin, and Marsh then entered his mind, and he cleared his throat. “What of the four spellcasters?” he asked. “Should I return them to their home, to aid in its defense?”

Isabel looked annoyed by the question. “Of course not,” she said. “They must stay here and continue work on the wall.”

“I see. The wall is why we are being sent and they aren’t.”

She nodded. “Four talented spellcasters mean more to me here than fifty Wardens.” Those words she spoke with nary an emotion. “You will leave on the morrow. Good day to you, Master Warden.”

In the past Ahaesarus would have taken offense to both her tone and message, but he realized that she was correct, and he had nothing but respect for the fact she’d come right out and just said it. He bowed and took his leave, marching through the hall with dignity while the young king whispered behind him.

Howard Baedan, the master steward of the house, greeted him in the corridor, and Ahaesarus asked him to fetch Judarius. He needed to inform the other Warden of his impending departure, for Judarius would be in charge until he returned.

Alone once more, he realized that he might never return. He was running headlong into the heart of a war, if the letter Lady DuTaureau had received was accurate, and if there was one thing the invasion of his home world had demonstrated, it was that war had many casualties. Given that possibility, he had no choice but to settle a certain matter on his own, and in his own way, no matter what Lady Isabel or King Benjamin had decreed.

He could see the uncertainty in the girl’s eyes as they reflected the torchlight. She fiddled before him, two sacks of clothing sitting by her feet. Her gaze flicked from him to the Wardens standing to his rear and back to him again.

“This should not be happening,” said Olympus, one of his fellow Wardens.

“Yet it is,” replied Ahaesarus.

“Isabel demanded that he be kept bound,” another of his group chimed in, an unusually stunted and broad Warden named Judah.

“I know what was decreed,” Ahaesarus said calmly. “This decision I make on my own. Any repercussions, I will bear. You need not let it vex you.”

“Still…”

They stood before the old well, Geris Felhorn’s prison for nearly nine months. It was past the witching hour, and the half-moon shone down on them disinterestedly. The barns and warehouses to their rear lingered like large midnight sentinels, the structures groaning in a chill breeze.

Penelope looked down at her hands, then at the tethered logs that hid the stairs beneath. Ahaesarus had visited her in the pavilion her family called home after leaving King Benjamin and Lady Isabel. He asked her what she most desired in regards to his former pupil. “To be with him always,” had been her response.

Now she was hesitating when her desire was on the verge of becoming reality. Ahaesarus understood her fear. She had been sheltered all her life, and if she acted, she would be faced with spending untold months, perhaps years, in the wilderness with no one but a potentially insane boy for company.

“You may turn back if you wish,” he told her.

The girl bit her lip, then shook her head. “No. I want this.”

He offered her a knife of sharpened stone and gestured toward the covering. Two of his Wardens lifted it, allowing the girl to descend the hidden staircase, torch in one hand, knife in the other. He stood still and listened once her head disappearing from sight. Faint, joyous sounds filtered through the opening, followed by hushed sobs and urgent whispers. He heard sloshing, and then something snapped, a sharp crack that brought goose pimples to his flesh, but Penelope giggled, and his nerves calmed ever so slightly.